PSC
The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) is a joint computational research center between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. It provides university researchers with access to world-class high-performance computing (HPC) and data storage resources.
For members of the department, the PSC is the primary avenue for computational work that exceeds the capacity of our university-based servers. PSC supports a variety of large scale computational workflows over many different statistical and scientific disciplines.
Tip: When to use PSC?
You should transition your workflows to PSC when your experiments require multi-node parallelism, extensive continuous CPU/GPU hours, or memory architectures (e.g., Extreme RAM nodes) that are not available on our local department clusters.
Applying for an Explore ACCESS Allocation
To use PSC resources, you must request an allocation of computing time through ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support), the national network that manages NSF-funded computing resources.
If you are getting started, benchmarking code, or running a small-to-medium research project, you should apply for an Explore Allocation.
Important: Graduate Students as PIs
As a graduate student, you can apply as the Principal Investigator (PI) for an Explore allocation. You do not need your faculty advisor to submit the application on your behalf, provided you include a signed letter of support from them.
Download the template here: Advisor Letter of Support Template
Step-by-Step Application Process
- Create an ACCESS Account
- Go to the ACCESS portal and register for an account using your university credentials via CILogon.
- Draft Your Project Summary
- Unlike massive compute grants that require extensive, multi-page proposals, the Explore allocation is designed to be lightweight. You only need a brief abstract or overview (about 1 paragraph to 1 page) describing your research goals, the software dependencies you intend to use, and why you need HPC resources.
- Obtain Advisor Approval
- Fill out the Advisor Letter of Support Template and have your research advisor sign it. You will upload this document as a PDF during the application process to verify your eligibility as a PI.
- Submit the Request
- Navigate to the ACCESS Allocations interface and start a new request.
- Select the "Explore" tier.
- Fill out your project details, paste in your abstract, and upload your advisor's signed letter.
- Wait for Approval
- Explore allocations undergo a rolling review process and are generally approved rapidly, often within a few days to a week.
Once your allocation is approved, you will receive instructions on how to log in to the PSC portal using your ACCESS credentials, at which point you can begin transferring your data and setting up your virtual environments.
Other Helpful Resources
- PSC Presentation Materials, including step-by-step graphical instructions for setting up an ACCESS allocation.
